[Macworld]

Post your comments for Laptop showdown: $2,000 MacBook versus PC here

[widowsoft]

I stopped reading your artical when you looked no further than the processor fsb 800MHz compared to 1066MHz
mine runs XP quicer than any collegues PC Laptop

[warlock7]

What kind of memory and FSB and what are the screen resolutions in each device?

[warlock7]

I missed those numbers in the article... where did you see them?

[widowsoft]

Thats what I was saying you did not so it was a Balmer compare

[warlock7]

Gotcha. I'd also like to know the screen resolutions...

[jcskeeter313]

"Unlike the Dell laptop, the MacBook Pro doesn't offer an ExpressCard slot (neither did the HP Compaq 8510w)."
Wrong. The 15 and the 17 both have an expresscard slot.

[kevrev]

"Unlike the Dell laptop, the MacBook Pro doesn't offer an ExpressCard slot (neither did the HP Compaq 8510w)."
This isn't really true. All MacBook Pros have an ExpressCard/34 slot. (http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html)

[iJavaJoe]

One thing completely overlocked in all the Mac/PC price comparisons is residual value. I never see anything to let you know what you get when selling your old laptops.
In my experience I can get 5 to 10 times as much for a Mac portable over an equivalently speced PC system. I just sold a 3 year old Power Book G4 for $500. How much do you get for a 3 year old portable PC?

[Jason Snell]

ExpressCard error fixed -- thanks for the heads up. I'll notify the author as well.

[trip1ex]

YEah resale value on Macs is much better. It's much easier, for me at least, to size up a Mac laptop's value than a random pc laptop because there are few Mac laptop models.
Also memory & hard drive upgrades are very cheap and easy to do yourself. Not to mention you can get something for your old hard drive and memory.
On the downside, I'm sure you can get a better gpu in a $2000 Windows laptop if you need it.
And a Windows laptop drops in price as components get cheaper while Apple holds prices steady until the next update 6-12 months later.
Dell also has big sales. Not unusual to find coupons for 20-30% off.

[trip1ex]

Also no mention of the gpu in the Dell or HP? (and really the entire configs of both should be posted.)
Is the Quadro 570M gpu in these the same as the Nvidia 9600 in the MBP?

[gunner1954]

For the general consumer front-side-bus means little. However, some of the specs for the Apple hardware (including the $999 MacBook) that do matter to a consumer are: Mag-Safe (no break!) adapter connector; accidental drop sensor (accelerometer) to prevent hard drive head crashing; FireWire 800 on Pro models for video and FAST file transfers; On ALUMINUM moels: Display Port technology for up to 2560 by 1600 pixels resolution on external display; BFR-free; Mercury-Free; Arsenic-Free; PVC-Free; mostly Recyclable Aluminum and Glass enclosure; EPEAT Gold rated (very-very few PCs meet this test!); keyboard backlighting; Multi-Touch track pad (with really cool uses!). ALSO: built-in camera for video conferencing (iChat, up to 4 persons) and other purposes; screen sharing software (iChat) built-in, and really easy-to-use Wi-Fi connection software!

When a salesperson properly explains and demos these great features (especially the GREEN features and how easy the software is to use) plus the value they present, the Mac usually gets sold over a lesser priced Windows PC.

[bonesb]

There's one other comparison I'm interested in, business software. I chose the Mac for two reasons, Merlin (compared to Project) and I can run WinXP in a partition to get the best of both OSs.
Merlin's just under $300 and the best value for what I need with Project costs $999 - Merlin does what I need and more and cost $700 less than buying Project, and every time I go through a meeting with a Merlin printout I get asked what app I used, and I've got new clients just because it's not Project. The positive comments I get when clients see WinXP on my Mac have sold a couple of Macs for Apple too...